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Wing kinematic and aerodynamic compensations for unilateral wing damage in a small phorid fly
- Source :
- Physical Review E. 101
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- American Physical Society (APS), 2020.
-
Abstract
- To investigate the way in which very small insects compensate for unilateral wing damage, we measured the wing kinematics of a very small insect, a phorid fly (Megaselia scalaris), with $16.7%$ wing area loss in the outer part of the left wing and a normal counterpart, and we computed the aerodynamic forces and power expenditures of the phorid flies. Our major findings are the following. The phorid fly compensates for unilateral wing damage by increasing the stroke amplitude and the deviation angle of the damaged wing (the large deviation angle gives the wing a deep U-shaped wing path), unlike the medium and large insects studied previously, which compensate for the unilateral wing damage mainly by increasing the stroke amplitude of the damaged wing. The increased stroke amplitude and the deep U-shaped wing path give the damaged wing a larger wing velocity during its flapping motion and a rapid downward acceleration in the beginning of the upstroke, which enable the damaged wing to generate the required vertical force for weight support. However, the larger wing velocity of the damaged wing also generates larger horizontal and side forces, increasing the resultant aerodynamic force of the damaged wing. Due to the larger aerodynamic force and the smaller wing area, the wing loading of the damaged wing is 25% larger than that of the wings of the normal phorid fly; this may greatly shorten the life of the damaged wing. Furthermore, because the damaged wing has much larger angular velocity and produces larger aerodynamic moment compared with the intact wing of the damaged phorid fly, the aerodynamic power consumed by the damaged wing is $38%$ larger than that by the intact wing, i.e., the energy distribution between the damaged and intact wings is highly asymmetrical; this may greatly increase the muscle wastage of the damaged side.
- Subjects :
- animal structures
Wing
Aerodynamic power
business.industry
Air
Diptera
Aerodynamics
Structural engineering
Kinematics
01 natural sciences
Biomechanical Phenomena
010305 fluids & plasmas
Aerodynamic force
Vertical force
0103 physical sciences
Animals
Wings, Animal
Flapping
Wing loading
010306 general physics
business
Geology
Mechanical Phenomena
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 24700053 and 24700045
- Volume :
- 101
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Physical Review E
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....43cd5a84e93ea4dd7775a1e441a52152